Page 28 of Holiday Hire

"Okay, but I can use anything as long as it's safe, correct?"

"It's a free-for-all," she sings, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Perfect." I exit the room and go back into the kitchen. I step outside the side door and stroll over to an ATV. As I suspected, the keys are in it. So I get on it, turn it on, and put it in gear.

When I turn the corner, everyone stops and stares at me. I pull up to the corral and park the ATV.

"What are you doing on that?" Alexander asks.

I beam at him. "Your mom said I can utilize anything on the ranch. So, there's no need to learn to ride. I can watch the boys on this."

Alexander's expression reveals a mix of competing emotions. If I'm not mistaken, it's disappointment but also approval. Yet the longer he stares, the more his approval fades. His eyes darken, narrowing under the shade of his cowboy hat.

Feeling like it's time to make my escape, I turn toward the boys. "Why don't you show me around the ranch?"

5

Alexander

Iglance at my watch and mumble, "Great." Then I race back to the house. I yank open the door and run toward the bedrooms.

Phoebe steps out of the bathroom at just that moment. A towel covers her hair, and another one wraps around her body. Her dewy skin seems to glow brighter in the dull light.

"Whoops! Sorry," I offer.

She smiles. "Where's the fire?"

My heart pounds harder. "I have to wake the boys up."

"I already did. They're in the kitchen, eating cereal," she states.

Disappointment hits me. I blurt out, "I'm the one who wakes them up in the morning."

She arches her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep. You said they had to get up at six thirty, and I saw yououtside. I figured you would want me to wake them up so you could work."

"You were watching me?"

Pink crawls up her neck and into her cheeks. She shakes her head. "I… I wouldn't say watching."

I laugh, but it comes out awkwardly. "I was just kidding."

"Right," she says, smiling.

I'm seriously an idiot.

A moment of silence fills the air between us.

She tilts her head and states," It's five after seven right now."

"Yes, I'm aware," I respond, gruffer than I intend.

Hurt briefly appears in her expression, but she quickly asks in a confused tone, "Going forward, you don't want me to wake the boys up if you're not here?"

"No... Yes... No. It's my job," I ramble.

Why do I sound like I can't form a coherent sentence this morning?

She puts her hands in the air and offers, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep."

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